Biggs and Richvale Elementary Schools Math-A-Thon Bring in Big Money!

This year’s Math-a-thon at Biggs Elementary school raised a whopping $9,840.00 for classrooms. Richvale Elementary is a small school of 35 students and is also part of the Biggs Unified School District. Their Math-a-thon brought in $1, 993.33 to help support their classrooms

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By Maxine Hamblin

Gridley Herald - Gridley, CA

By Maxine Hamblin

Posted Oct. 5, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By Maxine Hamblin

Posted Oct. 5, 2012 at 12:01 AM

This year’s Math-a-thon at Biggs Elementary school raised a whopping $9,840.00 for classrooms. Richvale Elementary is a small school of 35 students and is also part of the Biggs Unified School District. Their Math-a-thon brought in $1, 993.33 to help support their classrooms.

Several years ago, as an answer to school budget cuts, teachers Melissa Lovoi and Groverlee Dahl introduced the Math-a-thon fundraiser idea to Biggs Elementary School. It has been the main source of money for Biggs and Richvale Elementary classrooms for nearly a decade.

Math-a-thon money pays for field trips, class projects, discipline rewards, classroom pets and supplies, books for classroom libraries, etc. Each classroom gets to keep the money they earn to support their own classroom. During this year’s two-week Math-a-thon period students went to family, neighbors, and friends asking for donations and pledges. Supporters pledge money to students who will be taking a test with 100 problems on it. They have the option to pledge per problem answered correctly or simply give a certain dollar amount contribution. After students are given a week to get pledges then the entire school has a Math Day and students take a Math-a-thon test. Tests are corrected and scores are sent home with students and then they collect pledge money.

In order to motivate students to get pledges prizes are given to individuals who bring in the most pledge money for their classrooms. This year at Biggs Elementary 20 prizes were awarded at their Math-a-thon assembly for the top 20 money earners. Some of the prizes included an Ipod Touch, a bicycle and a helmet, a Justin Bieber clock, and much more. This is where we depend on local merchants and sponsors who help us purchase incentive prizes for our students. We would like to thank Walmart and Robobank of Oroville for always supporting this important fundraiser for our school.

Thanks to the support of our sponsors and to the hard work and willingness of our students and their families we earned important money for our classrooms!

Richvale Elementary received many of their prizes from the generosity of the Richvale community and gave out over 30 prizes for their participants.

Between the two schools there were six classes who earned over a thousand dollars this year for their classroom. The class coming in first place and earning the most money was Mrs. Hamblin’s first grade class at Biggs Elementary.